A domain name system (DNS) allows people using the Internet to refer to domain names, rather than IP addresses, when accessing websites and other online services. Domain names, which employ text characters, such as letters, numbers, and hyphens, may often be easier to remember than IP addresses, which are numerical and do not contain letters or hyphens. In order to implement a DNS, a variety of top-level domains (TLDs) have been created. A generic top-level domain (gTLD) is one type of top-level domain used in DNS. Examples of gTLDs that have already been created are “.com,” “.net,” and “.org.” Another type of TLD is a country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) such as, for example, “.uk.”
One or more second-level domains (SLDs) can be created under a TLD. For example, a SLD of “verisign” could be created under the TLD “.com” such that a website could be accessed at “verisign.com.”
A domain name “Registry” is an entity that creates, that is, “registers” TLDs, and stores data regarding TLDs and SLDs to be created under the respective TLDs. A Registry may make stored data regarding TLDs available to one or more “Registrars.” A Registrar may receive data from customers desiring to create one or more SLDs under a given TLD and may communicate this data to the Registry for storage.
Registries, as hosts of TLDs, are required to provide a system that meets a certain level of performance, for example, response time, availability, etc., as set forth by Internet Committee for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Performance levels may be set forth in service level agreements (SLA) for TLDs.